Want to Become an Arlington Firefighter?

If you’ve ever wanted to become an Arlington firefighter or EMT, now’s your chance.

Arlington County is beginning a new round of firefighter/EMT recruitment starting today, May 11. According to a fire department recruitment web page, the process will remain open through Tuesday May 22, 2012.

The application process for becoming an Arlington firefighter is a bit daunting, however. The following are the steps one must go through in order to be offered the job, according to the fire department website:

You have to take a polygraph to be a firefighter? What do they ask? If you’re an arsonist?

ArlingtonWay

Actually, yes. Just as the scouts have to always be on the lookout for pedophiles trying to become scout leaders/volunteers, it is apparently very common for arsonists to try to become associated with fire companies, usually volunteer fire companies. Sad but true.

Arlwhat

Just confirming that yep, this is SOP. Friend of mine lost his house in a fire a few months after joining his local VFD. His insurance company gave him a not insignificant amount of grief over this resulting in the settlement taking longer due to extra investigation details they decided they needed.

nunya

i bet you get alot of date requests….benefit!

JamesinEFC

They must really sweat out that uniform fitting…what it they don’t have your size! It was all for naught.

Is this salary range + benefits necessary to attract and retain qualified and high performing firefighters?

Firefighter wife

Are you really questioning that salary? Have you any idea of how much training firefighters have? Do you realize that Arlington Firefighters are also paramedics? What salary do you think is adequate for a person trained to respond to every conceivable dangerous situation you might find yourself in? An average day for a firefighter in Arlington is filled with responding to auto accidents, medical emergencies, fires, construction accidents, facilitating public education, conducting building fire inspections, learning all the streets and addresses in Arlington and how to get to those locations as quickly as possible, training and professional development, etc., etc., etc. My husband has been an Arlington Firefighter for over 16 years. He responded to the Pentagon on the morning of Sept. 11 and I did not see him again for days while they worked around the clock going in to a collapsing and burning building to find and rescue survivors. I use that example because it gets the most attention yet thats what firefighters are ready to do EVERY day! They are on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When was the last time you spent at least 10 nights a month and many holidays each year away from your family ready to respond to another family’s call? And, many Arlington firefighters cannot even afford to live in Arlington on the salary that they are paid. Some live as far away as Pennsylvania and West Virginia but they get up every day and drive for HOURS to be ready to respond to your emergency! So, you tell me, is this salary + benefits necessary to attract and retain high performing firefighters? I say, “Hell No!”. It’s not nearly enough! Who else, but firefighters and police officers, do you have on speed dial (911), ready to come to your aid 24/7? What’s that worth?

CommonCents

The average household income in Arlington is around $120k. And you think it’s too much money for a firefighter to get paid $74k at the END of their career?? What are you proposing, we reduce salaries to fund more homeless shelters? Arlingtonians… all the dollars and no cents…